What is occupational stress?

Occupational stress is a harmful physical and emotional response that can occur when a job’s demands don’t match the worker’s capabilities, resources or needs, often arising from job responsibilities, work environment or organizational factors, which can impact an employee’s overall well-being. Essentially, it’s stress related to one’s job or also referred to as workplace stress.

The Canadian Mental Health Association states that “Stress is a reaction to a situation – it isn’t about the actual situation. We usually feel stressed when we think that the demands of the situation are greater than our resources to deal with that situation. For example, someone who feels comfortable speaking in public may not worry about giving a presentation, while someone who isn’t confident in their skills may feel a lot of stress about an upcoming presentation.” (Source: “Stress,” Canadian Mental Health Association, 2018)

No matter the definition, occupational stress or workplace stress, can have negative impacts on an employee’s health and can lead to lost hours and revenue for the employer.

Major causes of occupational stress and the work-related factors

Some of the many causes of work-related stress include

• Work environment: Poor working conditions, inadequate resources, boring work, or lack of equipment

• Job demands: Too many or conflicting demands, heavy workload, long hours, tight deadlines, or shiftwork

• Decision making: Lack of control over how and when work is done, or lack of participation in decision making. Lack of autonomy or over-supervision.

• Support: Lack of support or encouragement from managers and others at work

• Relationships: Poor relationships with colleagues or bosses, or bullying, harassment, discrimination and other conflicts at work

• Job security: Job insecurity, few promotional opportunities, or low salaries

• Role and responsibilities: Feeling unclear about roles and responsibilities, or insufficient skills for the job

• Change: Changes within the organization, or crisis incidents (such as an armed hold-up or workplace death), or changes to duties or terms and conditions of employment.

• Communication: Poor communication in the organization

• Social support: Lack of social support.

Some demographic factors that are associated with occupational stress include sex, age, job experience, and industry category.

A risk management approach will identify which ones exist in your own workplace and what causes them.

Signs and symptoms of work-related stress

According to the Better Health Channel, signs or symptoms of work-related stress can be physical, psychological and behavioural.

1. Physical symptoms include:

• fatigue
• muscular tension
• headaches
• heart palpitations
• sleeping difficulties, such as insomnia
• gastrointestinal upsets, such as diarrhoea or constipation
• dermatological disorders

2. Psychological symptoms include:

• depression
• anxiety
• discouragement
• irritability
• pessimism
• feelings of being overwhelmed and unable to cope
• cognitive difficulties, such as a reduced ability to concentrate or make decisions

3. Behavioural symptoms include:

• an increase in sick days or absenteeism
• aggression
• diminished creativity and initiative
• a drop in work performance
• problems with interpersonal relationships
• mood swings and irritability
• lower tolerance of frustration and impatience
• disinterest
• isolation

What is occupational stress management and what is required under OHS and workers’ compensation to deal with occupational stress?

Work-related stress is a management issue. There are many strategies that can help control stress and reduce its impact on a person or in the workplace. Since the causes of workplace stress vary greatly, so do the strategies to reduce or prevent it.

Occupational stress management refers to proactive strategies implemented by employers to identify, assess, and mitigate work-related stress factors that could harm employees’ physical and mental health, often involving measures to modify job demands, enhance workplace support systems, and provide employee training on stress management techniques.

Under occupational health and safety legislation across Canada, employers are required to implement reasonable measures to prevent and manage occupational stress, including identifying stressors in the workplace, providing training on stress management, offering access to employee assistance programs, and investigating and addressing complaints and incidents related to work-related stress.

It also includes regularly evaluating potential stressors in the workplace and establishing clear policies regarding identified hazards and control measures, occupational stress management, communication, and access to support services.

In addition, it’s important to educate employees on stress management techniques, healthy coping mechanisms, and how to report work-related stress concerns.

If an employee develops a mental health or psychological condition directly linked to significant work-related stress, they may be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim, depending on the jurisdiction and specific circumstances.

Moreover, to achieve a psychologically safe workplace is to create and implement a comprehensive workplace health and safety program. This program is a coordinated strategy with related activities, initiatives, and policies developed by the employer, in consultation with employees or joint health and safety committee or representative, to continually improve or maintain the quality of working life, health, and the well-being of the workforce. These activities are developed as part of a continual improvement process to improve the work environment (physical, psychosocial, organizational, economic), and to increase personal empowerment and personal growth. 

Tips for employers and HR departments

Educating employees on stress management techniques, healthy coping mechanisms, and how to report work-related stress concerns is important.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), employers can address stress in many ways.

DO

• Treat all employees in a fair and respectful manner.
• Take stress seriously and be understanding of staff who are under too much pressure.
• Be aware of the signs and symptoms that a person may be having trouble coping with stress.
• Involve employees in decision-making and allow for their input directly or through committees, etc.
• Encourage managers to have an understanding attitude.
• Be proactive by looking for signs of stress among staff.
• Provide workplace health and wellness programs that targets the true source of the stress. The source of stress at work can be from any number of causes – safety, ergonomics, job demands, etc. Survey the employees and ask them to help identify the root cause(s).
• Incorporate stress prevention or positive mental health promotion in policies or your corporate mission statement.
• Make sure staff has the training, skills and resources they need to be successful in their positions.
• Design jobs to allow for a balanced workload. Allow employees to have control over the tasks they do as much as possible.
• Value and recognize individuals’ results and skills.
• Provide support.
• Be clear about job expectations.
• Make sure job demands are reasonable by providing manageable deadlines, hours of work, and clear duties, as well as work that is interesting and varied.
• Provide access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) for those who wish to attend.

DO NOT

• Do not tolerate bullying or harassment in any form.
• Do not ignore signs that employees are under pressure or feeling stressed.
• Do not forget that elements of the workplace itself can be a cause of stress. Stress management training and counselling services can be helpful to individuals, but do not forget to look for the root cause of the stress and to address these causes as quickly as possible.

By Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B.